


The Importance of Validation

by purseowner333



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Naoto's an asshole, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:56:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7531879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purseowner333/pseuds/purseowner333
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura Nakajima lives a normal life. Best friends with Saki Konishi, working part-time at Junes. The usual.<br/>That is, until her best friend is murdered. Then, she sees the Investigation Team hauling around her next door neighbor in the electronics department during her shift, and her life turns upside down.<br/>Through it all, there is Shirogane - the unscrupulous, irritatingly unruffled detective that she just can't seem to avoid, trying his hardest to figure out their secret.<br/>**CURRENTLY UNDER MAJOR RENOVATION AS OF AUG 2017**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slowly working my way through the chapters and editing them - and when I say 'editing' I mean 'rewriting the whole damn thing bc 90% was self-indulgent trash'
> 
> please be patient with me re-uploading the chapters, I've put an embarrassing amount of time into this fic and i promise it'll be worth it

My life changed forever during one particularly boring shift at Junes, the department store where I work part-time.

So, my supervisor, Yosuke, decided to stick Saki and me in the electronics department for the next few shifts. I was woefully lacking in any kind of expertise regarding electronics of any kind, but if Saki was there, I knew it wouldn’t be too unbearable.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight to fellow employees to see two curly heads, one blonde, the other black, whizzing past shrieking gleefully as they rode trolleys down the wheelchair access ramp.

Being friends with Saki was great. Her personality was so fun and upbeat that it didn’t leave you room to feel lonely or sad. Despite how frustrated I made her by cancelling plans due to constant meetings with the Soccer Club, the Student Health Association or from being the class rep, I knew she’d always understand, despite the many times she jokingly told me to quit and have free time like everyone else.

This shift however, she wasn’t her usual self at all. Quiet, reserved, melancholy? Definitely not Saki.  
"Hey," I said to her after our shift was done, tugging at her arm, "what’s the matter?"

She looked away then mumbled "S’nothing. Tired."

It was only the day before that that TV reporter was found dead in Inaba, but Saki didn’t know her or anything so I didn’t make the connection. It was later that the news that Saki had found her body spread like wildfire through school.

It was pretty obvious even before I found that out that Saki wasn’t just tired, and it wasn’t just nothing. In two years of close friendship, she’d never even been half this sad and distant.

"You can talk to me, y’know... If you need to talk to me, you can." It was difficult being this serious with Saki, as our relationship was mainly founded on a mutual interest in mischief as an attempt to null Junes-related boredom, but I was worried about her.

She looked back at me and opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it, exhaling through her nose.

"Ha, you sound like Hana-chan," she replied wryly, with a stiff smile on her face.

She looked at me again, and flicking her blonde curls out of her face she stood up. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

I stared after her, trying to decide whether to run after her and make her tell me what was going on or give her space. After a while I was joined by Yosuke.

"So... Did Saki say anything about our date?" he asked, craning his neck in an attempt to watch her go.

I looked at him, dumbstruck.

"Wait – she agreed to go on a date?! With you?"

He nodded smugly.

 "I guess persistence pays off after all," I replied slowly, flashing him a weak grin.

 Saki had only ever mentioned Yosuke to me to mock him and his feeble advances towards her – no way had she changed her mind so quickly. Like I said, I really don’t understand her sometimes.

 

* * *

  
The next day at school, I was taken out of the classroom by an office aide, who broke the news to me that Saki had died. Needless to say, I didn’t go to school that day, or for the next few days.

I don’t really want to talk about it, but let’s just say that it was gut-wrenchingly horrible and I still have the nightmares to prove it.

Even the news that Kanji, my next-door neighbour had dropped off a small knitted doll in perfect likeness to Saki as a gift couldn’t cheer me up, although I added her to my shelf of the other dolls that we made together as kids.

When I did manage to go back to school, it felt like I was being stared at by everyone, people tiptoeing around the grieving best friend. I could only imagine how Naoki, Saki’s kid brother, was being treated.

To try and distract myself, I threw myself into my extra-curriculars. I went to the practises of the Soccer club that I manage, as well as the Student Health Association that I volunteer for. I felt as if I had to go to the SHA – after all, if Naoki could do it after his sister’s death, surely I could. Student rep responsibilities suddenly let up and got an awful lot easier all of a sudden, but I couldn’t exactly complain.

The managers at Junes were really nice about it, saying that I didn’t have to come in and work until I felt I was ready. I don’t think they could bear to see only one half of the duo either, to be quite honest.

I didn’t feel up to going back to work and the Saki-shaped hole left until June, two full months after her death. I just walked through the double doors and bumped right into Yosuke with a few of his friends in tow. I exchanged quick hellos with the group, even though I wasn’t properly acquainted with all of them.  
Knowing how much Yosuke liked Saki, I was expecting him to be even more of a mess than I had been, but the guy looked focused, determined even. That made me feel a hell of a lot worse about taking two months off, when Yosuke could seem perfectly fine.

He was completely full of some kind of anticipation that was entirely alien in this environment. You don’t exactly hype yourself up for restocking shelves.

"Hi, Yosuke," I smiled, trying to appear as if I hadn’t just had 2 months off work, "where do you want me today? Electronics department?"

His face visibly paled at the sight of me, and looked at the transfer student, Narukami, for help.

 Huh?

On second thought, Yosuke looked weird – it looked like he was wearing something under his uniform, and there was a definite clinking coming from him as he nervously moved from foot to foot.

I cocked my head and frowned at him in confusion.

Narukami gave him a stern look, and Chie seemed to stand on his foot.

"Ow – oh, yeah, um," he stammered, then quickly continued, "no, no, don’t go to the electronics department today, I’ve got it covered."

Look ‘suspicious’ up in a dictionary and there’s a full-length picture of Yosuke Hanamura fiddling with his headphones and avoiding eye contact.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he nodded quickly at me and he and his friends dashed off to the electronics department, accompanied by an unmistakable metallic clanking with each step.

This was so strange.

Curiosity piqued, I followed the group surreptitiously until they reached a large full screen TV. I ducked behind a stack of laser-ink printers and pretended to straighten each box whilst throwing glances at the group, who appeared to be visibly psyching themselves up or something. Yukiko started stretching, and Chie started doing some kind of kung fu movements, narrowly missing the plasma screen TV to the left of the one they were congregating in front of.

"Watch it, idiot," Yosuke hissed.

Chie visibly puffed up like a pissed cat, and only a "you ready?" from Narukami took her attention off beaming a death glare to Yosuke.

As the group mumbled affirmations, I saw Narukami shoot a look over to me. I quickly spun back to the printers and carried on straightening them.

A few seconds later, I turned around to sneak a glance at the group – what were they doing? – only to notice that they were gone.

 What?

 The TVs were in the back aisle of the electronics department – for them to get out they would have passed me, and there was no way they were doing that without me hearing the clanking noises.

 I checked the surrounding aisles, completely bewildered,

 Giving up after 10 minutes or so, I stumbled off dazed to find a supervisor to tell me which department I’d actually be working in today.

 

* * *

After a few hours of mind-numbing shelf-stacking, my supervisor gave me a stack of USB cables to carry to the electronics department.

I was just finishing up when I heard a commotion in the back aisle. I peeked cautiously around the corner and saw Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie and Narukami, now supporting a familiar tall figure who appeared to be knocked out.

"Kanji!" I exclaimed, shocked.

The whole groups’ heads snapped to me, all displaying varying levels of horror.

I stormed up to them and demanded, "what have you done to him?"

"We didn’t do anything –"

"It’s not our fault-"

"Looks a lot worse than it is-"

Their voices overlapped, and I shook my head and interjected "one at a time!"

"It wasn’t us, Sakura! I swear!" Yosuke begged.

"Is he breathing? What the fuck happened?" I asked, going up to Kanji and looking at him for any further damage.

They all visibly struggled to think how they could possibly explain the current situation.

"We – can’t say," Chie answered eventually, awkwardly.

I rolled my eyes and stared at her.

"But Kanji’ll be fine. He just needs some rest," Yosuke added.

I nodded slowly. Whatever, if they weren’t going to tell me, Kanji would. He wouldn’t keep something massive from me. I just needed to wait until he was conscious and away from this weird group.

After another long silence Yosuke added, "what time do you finish?"

I checked my watch and replied, "just about now, actually. Do you want me to take him home? It’s no trouble, he, uh, lives next door to me."

They all looked at Narukami again for confirmation, and he answered, "thanks. Chie can help you."

The look in his eyes told me that he knew just why I wanted Kanji alone, besides wanting to make sure he was alright. Damnit.

I smiled at Chie weakly, pulled one of Kanji’s arms around me and half-walked, half-dragged him to the exit.

* * *

 

As soon as the others went their separate ways, Yukiko shooting a reproachful look Chie’s way as if she missed her usual walking partner, I made my move.

"So," I wheedled, "fancy telling me what’s going on?"

Chie blew a strand of short hair that had fallen into her eyes, and then pulled a face.

"Look, I’ve basically been sworn to secrecy," she replied exasperatedly, "I mean, I totally get why you want to know so bad, but I can’t tell you."

I wrinkled my nose again in annoyance, and we passed the rest of the short walk in companionable silence.

I looked up to see that we had reached Kanji’s house, nestled behind the textiles shop that his mother owned. We shook him enough to wake him up from his stupor and he awoke and muttered –

‘‘wait, what, where the hell am I? Sakura?"

"Hey Kanji,’ I smiled worriedly, "you okay?’

"Been better," he grumbled. "What are you doing here? Are you in on this too?"

"Hey, hey, shut it big-mouth, Sakura was in the electronics department at Junes and happened to see us coming back. She knows nothing more than that and we’re going to keep it that way, got it?" Chie hissed.

"Oh, okay."

"You can tell me if you want, Kanji," I added before being cut off by Chie.

"Look, we just woke you up so your poor mom doesn’t witness you being escorted in looking like a corpse, okay? In you go, go on." Chie ushered the barely-conscious teen through the door like a mother hen and shut it behind him before I could even say so much as a goodbye.

"An efficient way of getting him inside, I guess," I commented, and Chie smiled in response.

"Look, as long as you can promise me that no one’s in any serious danger, we’re cool," I said.

Chie bit her lip.

"Oh, come on," I groaned.

‘Not serious-serious,’ she hedged.

I stared at her again.

‘I can’t say any more than that. I’m so sorry, you shouldn’t have got caught up in all this,’ Chie said, her tone pleading.

I shrugged. With a rueful smile, she took one step back, then another, then began jogging off down the shopping district. I swallowed, the rejection like a lump in my throat, and trailed into the house next to Kanji’s.

What a day.


	2. Chapter 2

I checked on Kanji the next day, but was stuck chatting with his mother for most of the visit. Don’t get me wrong, the woman’s like a second mother to me. I was dumped at her house to be babysat by her more times than I can count when I was a kid. However, I was desperate to find out what had happened to Kanji, and her well-meaning small-talk felt stifling.

 I went to Kanji’s partly to see how he was doing, and also partly to see what kind of crap excuse he gave his mother for stumbling in half-conscious and being bedridden for over 24 hours.

“Oh yes, poor Kanji’s been under the weather,” she told me, “he came in all sweaty and feverish yesterday. He stayed over at a friend’s house the night before and seems to have got the flu.”

 “Mm, poor guy,” I agreed, thinking I’d have to congratulate him on his lying skills later, “do you mind if I pop upstairs then and see him?”

“Oh, you’d better not visit him, dear; it’s likely to be very contagious. Some of his other friends came earlier and told me they felt quite odd, as if they had caught it. They very kindly recommended me not to let Kanji have any visitors until he feels a little better, so no one else catches it. He’s been fast asleep all day though, so he won’t know that he had so many nice friends visiting.”

I smiled at her feebly, knowing full well who these ‘friends’ were, barring me from seeing Kanji and pumping him for information before they could convince him to keep his mouth shut.

“I hope he gets well soon, Mrs Tatsumi. When he wakes up, could you tell him to call me, please?”

She assured me that she would, and I left to go to soccer practice, which I was already five minutes late for.

 

* * *

 

It was only a few days later that I went for my next shift at Junes. I was less than thrilled to see I’d be working in the electronics department.

 I was restacking the shelves of headphones desperately trying to _not_ think about the Kanji debacle when my thoughts were interrupted by a deliberate, “ahem” behind me.

I turned around and had to considerably look down at the boy in front of me. He was wearing platform shoes and was still just under a head shorter than me.

“Excuse me, are you Sakura Hakajima?” the boy said, in a cool, professional voice.

“Um, yeah. Why?” I said, frowning slightly.

Was he a new manager or something? His height and his youthful face made me sure he couldn’t be any older than me.

“Sorry to interrupt you working like this. I’m Naoto Shirogane, and I’m working with the Inaba Police Department at the moment. I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” I replied slowly, still confused.

Wait, hang on - police department? Since when did teenagers work alongside detectives?

“You found Kanji Tatsumi after he went missing, correct?”

“I mean, I found him in one of the aisles here, but – wait, Kanji was missing?”

“For two days. You really didn’t know?"

When my face remained confused, he continued, "as his next door neighbor I find it strange that you weren’t aware of this." Shirogane surveyed me with a calculating look in his piercing grey eyes that I didn't like.

I stopped stacking the shelves, my arms falling to my sides.

“How do you know that?” I asked, eyes narrowed.

“Like I said, I’m working with the police department. That means I have access to information that would otherwise be confidential.” His tone was still cool, but now had a patronising edge to it that pissed me off.

“So, the police department obviously isn’t concerned about Kanji’s wellbeing after being missing for two days. In fact, seeing as you’re here interrogating me, it seems as if they’re suspicious of his disappearance. They think he’s up to something, don’t they?” I mused, before directing the question at Shirogane.

A small smile spread on his lips as he cocked his head and appraised me, surprised.

“Whatever they think he’s done, he hasn’t. Kanji isn’t the thuggish criminal everyone thinks he is,” I carried on, emboldened by his silence.

The more I thought about it, I was sure. Even though Chie had admitted that whatever they were involved with was dangerous, I was convinced Kanji wouldn’t do anything _criminal_.

“How can you be so sure?” Shirogane asked after a short silence. His eyes continued to bore into mine, and I made considerable effort not to break the contact.

He had a point, though. I hadn’t had a proper conversation with Kanji for months, since before Saki’s death, and now he was keeping some major secrets from me. 

I gave up. I wasn't in the mood for playing mind games with Shirogane right now.

“If you don’t believe me, go talk to Yu Narukami and his friends. They’re the ones who found Kanji. I just took him home after my shift finished.”

Shirogane’s eyes widened – I’d just given him what he’d wanted. I felt a strange pang of guilt for involving Narukami and the group, but I’d vouched for Kanji. The rest of them could deal with the police themselves.

“So, will that be all, Shirogane-san?” I asked, turning back to the shelves.

“Yes – thank you for your time. It’s been most enlightening.”

He straightened one of the boxes on the shelf, smiled knowingly at me and strode off purposefully in the direction of the exit.

I shook my head, made the box crooked again, and carried on restocking. That is, until I was interrupted again.

“What was that about?”

Spinning around, I saw Yu, Yosuke and the TV group standing in front of me. How they managed to sneak up on me with that deafening clanking sound following them is beyond me. This time however, Kanji was also there, fully recovered from his bout of ‘flu’, carrying a fold-up chair of all things.

I stared at them incredulously, crossing my arms.

“Why should I tell you? I mean, are you going to answer any of _my_ questions?” I asked.

Yosuke took a breath to reply, appeared to realised he couldn’t answer, and let it out with a long exhale, pursing his lips.

“And come on, Kanji, really?” I turned on him, and he had the grace at least to look sheepish.

“I have to hear that you were missing for _two days_ from a complete stranger! Two days! What is going _on_ with you?” I hissed, then when he didn’t reply, I added in a much smaller voice, feeling utterly pathetic, “your mom said she’d tell you to call me.”

Kanji grimaced. “I’m sorry Sakura.”

Another short silence followed. The whole group looked incredibly uncomfortable, their faces pained.

“He can’t tell you, Sakura. It’s honestly for your own good,” Yukiko said in a pleading voice, trying desperately to make me understand.

I let out a short, disappointed sigh from my nose and tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “Whatever. See you around.”

 Kanji’s face was bright red and his lips were pressed together.

I turned to go, but only got a few steps away when Kanji let out -

“I got kidnapped.”

I swivelled round to face him, my mouth open in shock.

The whole group groaned, Yosuke muttering a quiet “dammit, Kanji.”

“Yukiko too. That’s why I was missing, or whatever.” He seemed to trail off once he’d realised what he’d said.

I was at a loss for words.  “S-so why the rest of you? Yosuke, Narukami, Chie.”

“We’re working together to find the kidnapper,” Narukami replied, and the guileless look in his eyes made me weirdly sure he was telling the truth.

All the same...

“If you’re lying -”

“He’s not,” Yosuke admitted with a sigh.

“Why are a bunch of _teenagers_ trying to stop this guy?” I asked, still dumbfounded.

“Or girl,” Yukiko added helpfully.

“What I mean is, have you even told the police? ‘Cause, y’know, they could look for this _person_ -” I directed the last word at Yukiko, who smiled blithely, “which is their job, and then you wouldn’t have to sneak around like this.”

“We, uh... We can’t tell the police –“Yosuke winced, anticipating my reaction.

“Oh, come on! _Seriously?”_

The group nodded.

“I’m not even going to ask why, but listen, in the interest of honesty... That guy back there is working with the police. Name’s Shirogane. He seems pretty suspicious about your disappearance, Kanji,” I said.

“Stupid cops,” Kanji muttered.

“He doesn’t know anything though, does he? There’s no way he can trace it back to us as a group,” Chie said.

Now it was my turn to look sheepish.

“About that...” I smiled awkwardly. “I may have given him his next lead and told him to come and talk to you guys instead.”

It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

They all groaned again.

“Well, thanks Sakura. Really did us a solid there,” Yosuke said sarcastically.

“It’s not my fault that you’re involved in some _deeply_ mysterious situation that you can’t _possibly_ tell anyone about!” I defended.

“The police were bound to find out at some point,” Narukami said calmly. “We’ve got nothing to be worried about.”

“No, no, I’ve got a better idea. That detective dude-“

“- Shirogane.“

“Whatever, he couldn’t be any older than us – he was a teenager!”

“Your point?” Chie asked, drily.

“So. Sakura _seduces_ him, he doesn’t blab to the police force, we’re all sorted! Yeah? Yeah?” Yosuke looked around the group excitedly, nodding slowly with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Oh my god, I forgot how annoying you are,” I screwed up my face in annoyance.

“Shut up, Yosuke,” Chie groaned.

“I don’t owe you anything, Yosuke! I’m not one of you – I’m not part of this little group! I mean, I’d _ask_ you if I could help you find this person, but I have a feeling I already know the answer.”

“We’re sorry you got involved in this at all,” Narukami said simply.

“The feeling’s mutual.” I smiled at him sarcastically. “I’m sure you guys are very busy, uh, hunting down kidnappers, et cetera, so I’ll be on my way.”

I was on my way to the break room – because let’s be real, I needed a break after that mess – when I heard the group make their way noisily to the back aisle. I backtracked, thinking that I’d like to grab Kanji by himself and make sure he wasn’t being inducted into some cult.

When I got back there, however, the aisle was empty.

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself, looking around the adjacent aisle. How did such a noisy group disappear like that?

 In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was one of the large screen TVs, which was rippling like the surface of a puddle after someone stomps in it.

Gingerly raising my hand to the surface to see how it felt, I nearly jumped out of my skin when my hand got sucked in all the way to my elbow.

Shit.

‘Oh my god. No, no, no fucking way,’ I shrieked.

I yanked at my elbow, but that only succeeded in more of me getting pulled in. Starting to hyperventilate from the claustrophobic feeling, I lost my footing, and fell down into the swirling red vortex.

 

* * *

 

I hit the ground with the back of my head slamming down with a sickening _thunk_. My vision swam, and when I raised my hand to my head it came away sticky with blood. 

"Ungh," I groaned in pain, blinking rapidly to try and clear my vision.

What the fuck?!

Standing shakily to my feet, I tried to make sense of my surroundings.

Where the fuck was I?

A cavernous room filled with fog, apparently. Great. Was this where the others had gone? If so, they couldn't be that far away.

I groggily staggered in a random direction, with my wadded up Junes apron pressed against my head to stem the steady trickling of blood. I had no idea whether I was walking towards help or away from it.

The fog pressed in on me, making it difficult to see further than my own nose. All the while, my head throbbed uncomfortably, making me woozy.

Walking for what could only have been a half hour or so but felt like an age, I stopped when I saw a shadowy figure just visible in the fog in front of me.

"Hello? Oh, please... Please help me! I need..." Enunciation was difficult at this point, and I dropped the apron on the ground.

My vision swam again, little black dots invading the sides of my eyesight. My legs felt uncontrollably wobbly and when I fell to the ground, I looked up at the figure casually strolling towards me.

"What the... Who - who are you?" I stammered.

How was this possible?

A face with two bright yellow eyes loomed down into my narrowing tunnel of vision, grinning.

"I’m you, Sakura. Can’t you tell?"


	3. Chapter 3

The investigation team were stood outside Kanji’s bathhouse, trying to pluck up the courage to enter.

“You first,” Yosuke hissed, trying to shove Chie through the double doors of the bathhouse.

“No way, Yosuke!” she replied quickly, darting behind him and pointing at Kanji, “if anyone’s going first its Kanji! It’s his mind that made this place!”

“Hey, shuddup! I did _not_ make up this place; it looks like some sleazy bathhouse!” Kanji roared, his face bright red.

“I suppose,” Yu wondered aloud, “that’s because it _is_ a sleazy bathhouse.”

“Hey, partner – you’re our leader! How about you take the lead?” Yosuke asked hopefully.

Yu glanced at Yukiko, then replied, “ladies first.”

Yukiko’s face reddened to a colour that rivalled her scarlet sweater. “No way! Why not Teddie?”

This idea resonated with the group, and they all swivelled to the bear, who was being suspiciously quiet and didn’t even seem to notice the group’s attention on him.

“Ted? You’re up!” Chie said.

“Shh. Stop talking, I smell something weird that I’m trying beary hard to identify.”

“Yeah, old news, Bear. You already told us about the new shadow at the top level of the bathhouse,” Yosuke rolled his eyes.

“No not _that_ , something different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know, but it would be a lot easier if you stopped that unbearable racket! It smells-“ Teddie paused, confused, “like a girl. A human girl.”

“A girl, eh? Nice.” Yosuke winked at Chie, who recoiled.

“It’s actually the opposite of nice, dumbass. People die in here,” Kanji growled.

Yosuke’s face went white, and it wasn’t hard to guess who was on his mind.

“Do you know where this girl is, Ted?” Yukiko asked, calmly laying a hand on his shoulder.

“I _think_ so.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

 

Teddie’s nose lead them back to the entrance, where a large bloodstain on the floor met them.

Yukiko clapped a hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp, while Chie clutched onto her arm for comfort.

“Were we too late?” Kanji asked lowly, trying to avoid looking at the sticky pool of crimson.

“The killer got to her first – or was it the shadows?”

“How did she get here without appearing on the Midnight Channel?”

“Guys, she definitely was here, and it looks like this is her blood. But her scent doesn’t stop here, it carries on for another mile or so, I think,” Teddie murmured.

“That means she’s alive at least, let’s look on the bright side,” Yu reassured.

They all edged around the blood and ran into the fog following the ominous blood spatters on the floor without uttering a word.

That is, until their collective gaze fell upon a curious building ahead.

“What is my house doing here?” Kanji asked, baffled.

Everyone dragged their eyes from the building to look at Kanji, their expressions ranging from confused to downright scathing.

“What?” Chie spluttered, “it’s obviously the Samagawa riverbank, are you blind?”

“You kiddin’ me? I may not know everything about personas ‘n stuff but I know what my goddamn house looks like-“

“- just looks like an ugly concrete building to me...”

“- I’m seeing the Inn! What’s happening?”

“Don’t be stupid, it’s Junes! Now I’m seriously starting to worry about you guys-“

The clamour of voices rose louder and louder until Yu yelled, ‘ ** _stop_** _!_ ’

Unused to being shouted at by their leader, every member of the team turned to look at him guiltily.

“Look,” he carried on, his calm, measured tone back, “this clearly has something to do with her shadow. Think about it – Yukiko, Kanji, your shadows manifested themselves in landscapes that represented something about you, right?”

“I think Kanji’s shadow said a _lot_ about – ungh, _ouch_ , Chie-“

“So,” he continued as if ignoring Yosuke’s interjection, “it makes sense that her shadow would do the same, right?”

“But then why is it varying from person to person? How is it doing that?”

“S-sensei...” Teddie’s quavering voice came from a point not far away. “You might want to look at this...”

They turned to look at Teddie, and saw that he was stood next to a crumpled, bloodstained Junes apron, with a nametag attached.

“Shit,” Yosuke yelped in a strangled voice, “Sakura!”

“But how did she get here? Did the killer see her talking with us near the TV and think she was a part of all this?”

“She’s innocent, dammit! She doesn’t know anything about this and been dragged into it anyways-“

“If she gets hurt, I’ll never forgive myself-“

“She’s already hurt, Yukiko, or hadn’t ya noticed? Weren’t the bloodstains on the floor enough evidence for you?”

“Kanji, that’s out of order, you know she didn’t mean it like that-“

“Chie, Kanji, we won’t be of any use to her if we don’t think this through calmly. We’ve got to decide whether we go now-“

“Why wouldn’t we go now? I don’t think leaving her here is a good decision-“

“Look, I’m just saying that there’s no point going in all guns blazing if we aren’t ready. We’re low on supplies and Kanji’s got a plastic chair for a weapon – you need to remember that if we fail, she has no one else to rely on.”

This seemed to make sense to the group, and they resolved to come back the next day.

“Kanji,” Yukiko asked gently, careful not to provoke him, “have you thought of what you might say to Sakura’s parents to explain why she’s not home? Seeing as the police were suspicious about your disappearance it’s probably best that her parents don’t report anything.”

“That’s the thing, her mom works nights and ‘s hardly ever awake to see Sakura. No dad. There won’t be a problem,” Kanji replied grimly.

“But don’t you think it’d be a good idea to tell her anyway? We could drop by the hospital on the way back?”

‘Trust me – her mom won’t even notice she’s gone.’

 

* * *

 

 

The next afternoon, complete with a new weapon for Kanji, pockets full of medicine and a renewed sense of vigour for the task ahead, the team approached the building.

Kanji stepped towards the threshold first.

“Oh so _now_ you’re all eager to take the lead?”

“Yosuke, stop being an ass or I’ll show you exactly what these new steel-capped boots can do,” Chie interjected.

“So, the plan is to get to the top floor, defeat the shadow and rescue Sakura,” Yu said simply.

“But I think we should be a bit more careful around this shadow. The changing-location-thing proves that it’s powerful, probably the toughest we’ve faced so far.”

“Okay, keep an eye out for any tricks, climb stairs, kill shadow, save Sakura, got it,” Kanji reeled off, passing through the doorframe.

As they all entered the building, or, in Chie’s case, walked further in Samagawa, the light filtering through disappeared and they were left in pitch blackness.

“Sensei,” Teddie yawned, “I feel really... strange...”

“Me... too...” Yukiko replied, fighting to hide her yawn behind her hand.

“Don’t fall asleep! It’s a... A...”

All of the party members’ eyes shut, and they all fell to the floor.

 

* * *

 

CHIE

Chie awoke to the sound of birdsong, and someone shaking her shoulder roughly.

“Oh come _on_ , Chie, there’s no way I hit you that hard!”

Her eyelids flew open to see Sakura, green eyes flashing mischievously.

Chie was sure she was in the middle of something _super_ important – how did she get here?

“Oh my god – I did! I beat you so hard - at training nonetheless - that you passed out!” Sakura didn’t seem sorry at this, just gleeful.

She put up her fists and jumped from side to side, as if about to box.

“We’re... training?”

“Uh, yeah Einstein. Now come on, even the score!”

A smile spread across Chie’s face and she hopped up agilely. She couldn’t remember how she got there, but goddamn if she was going to let a cocky opponent take her down.

“You’re on! I never could resist a challenge.”

Chie dodged Sakura’s kick, which came towards her lightning fast, then had to think fast to avoid her arm, which came out of nowhere.

She was so fast that she put Chie on the defensive, and didn’t offer her any chances to try offense. All she could do was dodge and weave and avoid.

“You’re good,” Chie said through gritted teeth, “I’ve never really found a match for my skills before, this is refreshing.”

And it was! It felt good to know that she had to really try, to be pushed to her fullest abilities.

 It was fun training with Yu, but it was clear that she was the more experienced martial artist so she never had to really _try._

All this introspection wasn’t beneficial to the fight, however, as one of Sakura’s kicks caught her a light glancing blow on her ribcage, causing her to wince momentarily before wheezing out a laugh.

Sakura laughed, and shouted, “I win!”

Chie grinned at her.

They both collapsed onto the grass side by side, giggling.

 

* * *

 

 

YUKIKO

Yukiko awoke with a start, bleary eyes taking in the wood panels of her bedroom.

“I cannot believe you fell asleep, Yukiko! Surely you know that’s a major sleepover no-no.”

Yukiko’s eyes fell upon the grinning form of Sakura, sitting cross-legged leaning against the wall next to her futon.

“I... fell asleep? I don’t remember anything – my head’s... fuzzy,” she frowned, trying to think past the fog in her brain.

Fog! That was important, her mind was telling her.

But how?

“Whatever, sleepyhead. I have the perfect idea of what to do next,” Sakura replied, pulling a laptop from beside the futon and tapping on the keyboard for a few seconds, before raising her brows at Yukiko as if to say ‘come on then’.

Yukiko shrugged, and scooched over to Sakura so she could see the laptop screen.

A Youtube page was open, and the video was entitled, “Try to watch this without laughing or grinning!”

She looked over at Sakura incredulously. “No way! I _love_ these videos!”

Sakura grinned and replied, “I had a feeling you would. I bet I’ll win though, you’ll laugh at anything.”

Yukiko giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth, “that doesn’t count! Okay, okay, I’m ready.”

Sakura pressed play, a knowing smile on her lips.

They both watch the first of the clips, featuring a tiny goat skateboarding. Yukiko’s cheeks bulged with suppressed laughter, her mouth a firm line from hiding a smile.

The videos got more and more ridiculous until one particularly funny one involving a baby monkey riding a pig made Yukiko crack. A loud “snrk”  
 erupted from her mouth as she held her sides with mirth.

 

* * *

 

“Y’know, training isn’t supposed to be a fight,” Chie hedged, picking at the grass next to her, but her wide grin undercut the lecturing tone.

“So go ahead and tell me you weren’t having fun just then Satonaka, ya big liar,” Sakura replied, poking Chie in the side.

“I did... I’m not used to being beaten, I guess. It makes me want to get stronger.”

“Well, speaking of stronger, one thing that might help you is a little protein... So, I brought steak skewers!” Sakura pulled two skewers out of a box inside her backpack and handed one to Chie, whose face lit up.

 “You _didn’t_! No way! They are still so delicious cold, right?”

‘Mmhm! But no one agrees!’

‘Ugh, I know right?”

They chomped on their chewy steak skewers in companionable silence.

“I can’t believe you knocked me out earlier,” Chie said around a mouth full of steak.

“What?” Sakura asked distractedly.

“Y’know, earlier. I woke up with no idea where I was or how I got here, that’s just really weird.”

“Sorry for being too rough,” Sakura smiled apologetically.

Chie, steak skewer finished, propped her head up on her hands and looked curiously at Sakura.

“It’s fine, it’s just - I literally have no memory of coming to Samegawa or training with you... Isn’t that weird?”

“Maybe you got a concussion. Steak skewer?” Sakura held the box aloft, seeming strangely eager to change the subject.

“I don’t think so. Concussions are supposed to make you feel like, really dizzy and sick, right?” Sakura shrugged, but Chie pressed on, “I feel fine. I just have this weird feeling, like there’s something I’ve forgotten.”

“I know what we can do to take your mind off things!” Sakura replied quickly, digging around in her backpack once more. After a short while, she pulled a DVD out triumphantly. “Ta-da! Trial of the Dragon! Shall we watch it at yours or mine?”

Chie bit her lip. “Sorry Sakura, I’m not really feeling it right now. I think I should head home, I still feel weird. Maybe another time?”

 She stood up, then looked at Sakura, mildly concerned when she didn’t reply. What she saw shocked her.

Sakura was _crying._

Her bottom lip quivered and her green eyes filled with tears.

“You’re leaving?” Her voice was small and trembled with emotion.

“I-I’m sorry,” Chie stammered, floored by Sakura’s response.

 This didn’t seem like her – but then again, Chie couldn’t actually remember spending time with Sakura before. She wracked her brain, becoming increasingly frustrated by the fogginess of her mind. No - she was _sure_ that her and Sakura hadn’t hung out before, apart from that one time walking Kanji home.

“B-but I did all this for you,” Sakura whimpered, gesturing to the riverbank, the DVD and the steak skewers. “I thought that was what you liked.”

“I do like it - I’m having fun!” Chie scrambled, trying to reassure her, make her understand. “It’s just... Things aren’t adding up and something’s not right – it’s weird.”

Sakura’s overly emotional response was making it really difficult for Chie to work out what was going on, so she grabbed her jacket and stood up.

“Look Sakura, I’m sorry. I’m gonna go,” she said awkwardly.

“I thought if I did what you wanted, you’d stay,” Sakura said quietly. “But you still want to go – you’re just like everyone else.”

Sakura stood up, wiped away her tears and continued, “I won’t let it happen this time. Not again. You’re not leaving me here all alone.”

Chie swallowed and met Sakura’s intense gaze, green eyes into brown.

She let out a shocked gasp when she saw pigments of yellow filtering into the emerald of Sakura’s eyes, mixing until they were a horribly familiar bright colour.

That’s why she was here! It all came flooding back to her – everyone seeing different places, Sakura’s shadow must have split them all up!

“You can’t leave me here,” the shadow repeated, walking slowly but deliberately over to her. “I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t leave me.”

Chie felt the blood drain from her face. The team struggled to take down these kinds of shadow together, so how was she supposed to do it alone? She had to get back to the others.

“This isn’t the real Sakura – where is she?” she replied, trying to keep her voice level to contain her fear.

The shadow’s lip trembled. “Am I not good enough? I’ll –“

“Look, I’ll stay with you, okay? I won’t leave you alone,” Chie pleaded, “but you’ve got to help me find my friends. Please?”

And with that, Shadow Sakura’s body flickered, then disappeared. As the shadow vanished, the colour slowly drained from the tranquil landscape of Samegawa, leaving Chie standing in a large concrete tunnel alone.

“Well, damn,” Chie muttered.

“Chie?!”

Chie rushed through the tunnel in the direction of the voice, which she could see lead to a dimly lit large room.

“Yukiko!” She ran up and hugged her. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”

“I’m fine. It was Sakura and the inn and- and goats on skateboards –“

“Goats on skateboards?” Chie tried to put her hand on Yukiko’s forehead but she pulled it away, giggling. “You feeling okay?”

“Yes, I’m _fine._ But then when I asked Sakura why she was there and started to get suspicious, she started crying and begged me not to go,” Yukiko said earnestly.

“Same happened to me, pretty much,” she replied, thinking of Sakura’s tear-stained face. “What is this place, anyways?”

She could see six tunnels leading out of the room, including the one she had come out of, and the one she assumed Yukiko had come from. However, the other tunnels were barred with giant wooden doors, clearly locked.

“Well,” Yukiko started, “judging by the fact that you and I escaped the shadow and left our tunnels, we can safely assume that the others are behind these doors, yet to realise the Shadow Sakura has created an illusion to trick them.”

“Right,” Chie nodded. “So once they realise it’s an illusion –“

“- They’ll join us in here,” Yukiko finished.

They both sat down on the floor, and Yukiko rested her head on Chie's shoulder as she gave her a play-by-play of the funny video she had just watched.

 


End file.
